To celebrate our second anniversary together as an a couple, the BF and I (ok just ME) decided to go for one of the first of hopefully many to come, Test Kitchen dinners to come. Test Kitchen is a concept kitchen that invites chefs from around the world to collaborate on dinners, affordable yet still delicious alternatives to expensive four hand diners at Amber or other fine dining establishments.

This dinner was in collaboration with La Bijouterie, a much buzzed about restaurant from Lyon, France that got awarded "Fooding d'amour" by Le Fooding guide shortly after opening. Described as 'le resto le plus hispster de Lyon' by City Brunch Lyon, my interest was piqued to see just how hipster a place could be coming from a city that is so representative of traditional French gastronomy.

And on that end they delivered. The food they presented was not mindblowingly original but it was a good combination of more traditional French flavours with a Asian inspired touches. It was subtle and well done even though it has been seen more many time elsewhere (Amber, Serge et le Phoque, Ta Vie etc). I had reservations against some dishes such as the duck heart but it was flawlessly executed and superbly done. I think it is a feat to have turn around diner's own preferences (albeit one relatively open minded if I could say so myself) and make them enjoy them just because of sheer skill alone.

The wine pairings on the other hand leave something to be desired. It was cheap granted ($100 ticket compared to $900+ for the dinner) however if they charged just $200/$300, they could give themselves more to work with to elevate the whole dining experience.

Ultimately you go for the food first and the wine second so while not perfect, the dinner was still pretty damn enjoyable. Until the next Test Kitchen collaboration.